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Sitting Posture for Kegels

Correct posture for kegels involves:

Inward in the low back

‘Chest lifted

Spine tall

Lean forward may also assist in feeling pelvic floor exercises.

Technique for Kegels

Identifying the position of the pelvic floor muscles around the pelvic openings

Lifting and squeezing the pelvic floor muscles

Relaxing the pelvic floor muscles

Resting and recovering before the next attempt.

How to feel Kegels

Techniques for feeling Kegels include:

Imagine trying to stop passing wind

Imagine trying to stop the flow of urine

Touching the area between the vagina and anus (the perineum) and feeling it lift inwards with your contraction.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Breath holding

Buttock squeezing

Thigh squeezing

Inadequate relaxation of the pelvic floor muscles between attempts.

How to Progress Kegel Exercises

Move from lying to sitting and standing

Increasingly stronger contractions

Increasingly longer pelvic floor muscle holds

Consider using a pelvic exerciser.

This health professional Kegels video and information is intended to provide women with expert information to assist them towards improving their pelvic floor strength, avoiding and overcoming pelvic floor problems.

Michelle Kenway is a Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist and author of Inside Out – the Essential Women’s Guide to Pelvic Support. The Inside Out exercise DVD and book show women how to strengthen the pelvic floor and exercise effectively with pelvic floor safe exercises.

Hi Medina
Everyone is differerent regarding how many pelvic floor exercises (Kegel exercises) they are able to perform. Scientific research tells us that for strong pelvic floor muscles, women should ideally perform 3 sets of pelvic floor exercises (Kegels) consisting of 8-12 repetitions, aiming to hold each contraction for 3-10 seconds if possible. It is also important to rest your pelvic floor muscles in between each contraction to allow them time to recover. Beginners and women with weak pevlic floor muscles often need to start on fewer repetitions ad gradually build up as their strength improves. Ideally most women should perform pelvic floor exercises (kegels) on most days of the week, particularly when they are trying to strengthen their pelvic floor. This can take 3-5 months of dedicated pelvic floor exercise for women with weak muscles. Then these exercises should be perfromed at least a couple of times a week to maintain strength gains. Michelle

Urinary retention in children

Hi Scarlett

Treatment for neurogenic bladder needs to be specific to the actual problem involved, whether it be that your daughter is unable to contract or relax her muscles involved in bladder emptying at the correct time. This needs to be assessed and treated by a health professional, preferably one trained in paediatric bladder management.

When it comes to bladder emptying, you may like to watch this video regarding optimal positioning for how to empty the bladder. It is also worth noting that when a child’s feet are placed on a high stool or the floor (as in when using a potty) when emptying the bladder (or bowel), then appropriate pelvic floor muscle relaxation can occur. When a child’s legs hang above the ground, and are not in contact with a solid surface the child is unable to relax their core muscles which does not facilitate good emptying patterns.

Hi Paula
Most of the pelvic floor muscle biofeedback probe devices are to my knowledge designed for lying down. I do know of a company currently developing a pelvic floor biofeedback device for use in standing. The problem is usually difficulty with the probe moving out of position in standing and or difficulty positioning the equipment correctly. This is a shame as it is really most useful for women to know the capacity and progress of their pelvic floor muscles when they are standing up as this is the position we usually rely on them most. This is why exercising pelvic floor muscles in standing if possible is so important. When using the pelvic floor biofeedback device lying down it is very important to maintain your normal lumbar curve rather than flattenening the arch of your back during your pelvic floor exercises. It will give you a measure of your lying down pelvic floor strength which doesn’t necessarily equate with your standing pelvic floor muscle strength but it is a measure of progress with your kegel exercises Cheers Michelle

Hi Gail
Yes we have a free physiotherapist guided video on how to find and feel your pelvic floor muscles. You can obtain this by entering your name and email address into the blue box on the top right hand side of the screen. You will automatically get sent a link to view your free pelvic floor exercise video video. This video instructs on how to locate pelvic floor muscles and activate them for to help manage prolapse symptoms and prevent worsening of vaginal prolapse. Michelle

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